Recently, to celebrate the 1940s debut of many of DC comics most popular characters (such as the Flash, Captain Marvel, Robin, Green Lantern, Catwoman and the Joker), the Hall of Heroes Museum in Elkhart, Indiana, hosted an all-day DC based comic-con-esque event. The DC celebration was on July 25th, 2015, and was a great experience for DC fans of all ages.
The museum is nestled in the woods, just on the outskirts of Elkhart, Indiana, and is curated by Allen Stewart. The building is a replica of the Hall of Justice, once a headquarters of the Justice League, and this amazing place of superhero glory has had quite a bit of hight profile attention in the serveral years that it’s been running, even receiving a visit from comic book legend and mastermind behind the MCU, Stan “The Man” Lee.
During the event, the Hall of Heroes had multiple volunteers dressed as superheroes wandering around and mingling with the crowd, and around noon these volunteers performed a wedding for the Joker and Harley Quinn (played by a real life husband and wife cosplay duo), which was presided over by Batman, who had been captured. The experience had a very Adam West Batman feel to it, and later Harley sung “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” by Beyoncé while doing her bouquet toss. The bouquet was caught by a young girl dressed as Raven from Teen Titans.
As a special guest, Comic artist Scott Rosema (whose works include X-Men Adventures, Space Ghost and Valliant’s Solar: Man of the Atom) traveled from Muskegon, Michigan, to attend the event to speak with fans and sell signed prints of his work.
in the afternoon, A costume contest for both kids and adults was held, The grand prize for the adult contest being featured on an upcoming reality series about the museum. All the costumes were great, but there must be winners, and it was the very same Raven that caught the bouquet, along with a young man with a truly amazing Firefly costume from Batman: Arkham Origins that he made himself.
The Hall of Heroes, despite being small, is still jam packed with millions of dollars worth of superhero goodness that could keep any comic fan entertained for hours. The museum boasts over 60,000 comics, 10,000 toys, figures and props, and 100 pieces of original animation cells and comic pages from cartoons and comic books that were always fan favourites.
Along multiple walls, the museum separates into four timeframes- Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age and Modern Age. The most valuable item on display is an original copy of Captain America #1, the iconic comic that featured the patriotic hero punching Hitler before the United States even entered World War II, from 1941. The Hall of Heroes also has on display the first issue of every Marvel comic from the early to mid 1960s, along with Adam West’s costume the 1960s Batman TV series, and a letter from him authenticating the suit. Next to that is a costume worn in The Greatest American Hero by William Katt. Flash photography is banned for preservation reasons.
The Hall of Heroes is an exciting must see stop for the avid superhero fan, especially during events like this one. The next event the museum will be hosting is a Hall of Villains Supervillain Haunted House on multiple weekends throughout October, in celebration of Halloween.
Visit the museums website for more information.
